what are the best export definition settings to export projects?

johnebaker wrote on 9/26/2018, 1:45 PM

Hi

. . . . some of the GoPro footage is very sharp,crystal clear and some panning shots are jittery and jerky (Makes you dizzy) . . . .

Without knowing the source video frame rate and whether it is Interleaved or Progressive video - MediaInfo analysis data would help - and the export settings you used it is difficult to advise specifically.

However, in general, for best results you should be exporting at the same framerate and Interleaved or Progressive as the source video, however you may not always be able to do this - see below.

The issue you are having is quite common with any combination of the following causes:

the source video in Interleaved and exporting as Progressive
changing the frame rate
panning shots

Exporting to MP4 file format you are restricted to exporting as Progressive video and for panning shots the pan should be slow.

There is no universal fix to this problem.

HTH

John EB

Kaywahjay wrote on 9/26/2018, 2:48 PM

Is there another option other than MP4 that I should try?...also, is there a general frame rate that would tend to give me better results that I could use for both the source video and exporting?

CubeAce wrote on 9/26/2018, 4:37 PM

Hi Kaywahjay.

If you have complete control over your cameras settings then it is normally advisable to use a shutter speed approximately double that of the frame rate, so if you are shooting at 30fps then a shutter speed of 1/60s second would be optimal for a natural fluid motion but may seem less sharp as each frame may show motion blur. At 60fps a shutter speed of 1/120s would produce a sharper looking result that still looks fluid but may become more noisy as light levels fall and the ISO value of the recording goes up accordingly. Stutters may happen when recording if your memory card is not fast enough for your recorder. Some cheaper cards may not record as well as ones recommended for your device.

Is the source material jittery itself during normal playback or just in MEP? if only in MEP then try exporting a file first to see what it looks like as frames are dropped and resolution is reduced in MEP during editing to prevent overloading your computer. The finished rendered video on the other hand may look much better.

browj2 wrote on 9/26/2018, 4:45 PM

@Kaywahjay

Hi,

Further to what John EB and CubeAce, indicated, go outside and take some test footage at different shutter speeds and also with different light levels, if possible. Take some pan shots, trying to use the same speed each time. Then test out the results in MEP.

Panning is usually problematic and to be avoided unless you use a tripod with a fluid pan head and go slowly. Of course, we don't always do that, so you do the best with what you've got.

John CB

Scenestealer wrote on 9/26/2018, 6:38 PM

Hi

Good advice there from the others, but I think you will find with the GoPros that the shutter speeds are dynamic (ie can not be fixed) and vary depending on lighting conditions to give the right exposure. On a bright scene this will push the shutter speed up into the 1/1000s which means there is a fast exposure for one frame and then a very long interval to the next fast exposure. This means the subject has moved too much between exposures to give smooth motion. If you can slow the shutter speed down then in addition to reducing the blanked interval between frames it adds a degree of motion blur which helps blend the movement frame to frame. The best way to deal with this with the shutter on automatic is to add some neutral density filtering to the lens to keep the shutter speed low on bright subjects.

Having shot at 50p for years, I am now having to deal with this on my new 4K Sony that can only shoot 25p and, as I like to keep the camera on Intelligent Auto, are adding up to ND8 to the lens on exterior scenes. There is another bonus in this with these camcorders with very small sensors and consequently very short focal length lenses, in that it keeps the auto iris closer to wide open which reduces the diffraction blurring caused by tiny physical apertures. You would be surprised at how much sharper the footage is at F2.0 than at F11 when you are at the wide angle end of the zoom on the AX53 Sony!

One thing that can help if you are stuck with slightly jittery pans is your TV. A lot of modern sets have something called "Intelligent frame creation" which creates intermediate frames when it senses stepping in the content. This works extremely well even on the Mid setting on my 2013 Panasonic plasma.It can be set in the Advanced Settings menu.

Peter

Kaywahjay wrote on 9/27/2018, 10:55 AM

I have all my audio soundtrack on track 4...It is comprised of a dozen or more songs with some intentional gaps between them so that they are synchronized with some very specific titles and motion. Will these gaps in the audio soundtrack be a problem when I go to export the project?

johnebaker wrote on 9/27/2018, 11:15 AM

@Kaywahjay

Hi

. . . . Will these gaps in the audio soundtrack be a problem when I go to export the project? . . . .

Gaps will not cause an issue, if the audio cuts in very quickly it can sound a little odd, a very quick fade in, 3 - 6 frames depending on your video framerate, where the sound actually starts, IMO, sounds a lot better.

HTH

John EB

Kaywahjay wrote on 9/27/2018, 11:24 AM

Great!...Thanks for the tip

browj2 wrote on 9/27/2018, 1:08 PM

@Kaywahjay

As I mentioned in another thread, gaps will give you an error message when you try to export. To be clear, this means gaps in the video part, not the audio part. Thus there always has to be something visible continuously on the timeline, not necessarily on track 1. If you have a video on track 1 that ends at 10s and the next video or image starts at 10s 2frames, irrespective of the track, you have a gap.

In the image below, there are 3 gaps in the image files. The third one at the right has audio but no video, so an error message will be generated:

The gap in blue above, in the audio files, causes no problem.

Error message when you go to export:

Click on "Jump to empty section":

The audio extends beyond the image part. Watch for this, because sometimes it may only be a frame or 2.

So, you have to fill the gaps with some kind of image file by moving clips or extending the durations of photos.

John CB

Kaywahjay wrote on 9/27/2018, 2:20 PM

...OK, just to be clear... gaps in the Audio will not cause a problem."Only the Images" ie, video, photo's, titles, etc...

browj2 wrote on 9/27/2018, 2:57 PM

...OK, just to be clear... gaps in the Audio will not cause a problem."Only the Images" ie, video, photo's, titles, etc...

Correct. Just make sure that audio does not go past the end of the video/images.

John CB

Kaywahjay wrote on 9/27/2018, 3:13 PM

Oh, that's interesting...Is that only for the very tail end of the image timeline and what will happen if it does?

Scenestealer wrote on 9/27/2018, 7:06 PM

@Kaywahjay

I have all my audio soundtrack on track 4...It is comprised of a dozen or more songs with some intentional gaps between them so that they are synchronized with some very specific titles and motion. Will these gaps in the audio soundtrack be a problem when I go to export the project?

This comment is not relevant to the original topic and should be opened as a new topic / post. This assists others to find relevant solutions to either issue when searching and stops the post becoming rambling. Thank you.

Peter - Moderator

johnebaker wrote on 9/28/2018, 10:51 AM

@Kaywahjay

Hi

. . . . Is that only for the very tail end of the image timeline and what will happen if it does? . . . .

The video will continue displaying a black screen until the music ends.

HTH

John EB